DARPA creates an indestructible robot armyworm (Video)

If the giant dog robot or the robot Cheetah not get scared, get ready to meet the … gusanobot indestructible. His name is “Meshworm” and was modeled to resemble an earthworm, but able to survive powerful hammering.

Instead of using liquid-based engines, air or silicone to move, the artificial muscle uses Meshbot created with a memory alloy that allows it to move very similar to how a Worm moves. The device could be used to spy or to enter remote places, although the technology could also be applied to medicine and the construction of prostheses.

The Robot is wrapped in a cylindrical mesh made of titanium and nickel, which expands and contracts with heat. The cable is separated into segments and current is applied to certain parts to heat-determined segments. This makes some parts of Meshbot contract at certain times, allowing you to move over a surface.

The engineers looked at real worms to create this robot, and found that these animals use latitudinal and longitudinal muscle groups to move. The cylindrical mesh represents the longitudinal section, and memory alloy, horizontal muscles.

As the worm has no vacuum pumps, gears or batteries, can survive multiple types of attacks and crushing. “The parts of Meshworm are all fibrous and flexible. The muscles are soft and the body is soft, “said mechanical engineer at MIT, Sangbae Kim.